February 28th, 2008
In September of 2006 (date may be inexact) the French army installed 600 one meter square reflective panels in the shape of Roman numerals on the sands of Mont Saint-Michel, a small rocky island off the coast of Normandy. The island’s 150-foot abbey spire cast a shadow three quarters of a mile long that swept across the numerals. Wow. Video of the installation, a thorough blog post in English, and the website for the project, in French.
February 21st, 2008
A great collection of photographs of painted wall sundials from around the world.
February 11th, 2008
The oldest stained glass sundial, made in the far south of Germany in 1529. Now resides in the Alder Planetarium and Museum in Chicago. For further info: a huge archive of stained glass sundials through history.
February 7th, 2008
From greenmuseum.org: “One of the early pioneers of both the environmental art movement and Conceptual art, Agnes Denes brings her wide ranging interests in the physical and social sciences, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, poetry and music to her delicate drawings, books and monumental artworks around the globe.”
She has used sundials directly in her work at least twice, listed below, and alluded to sundial-timekeeping ideas lots of times throughout her work.
1990
“Circle of Megaliths with Sundial,” Commissioned by the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals, a 10,000 acre wildlife preserve and research center in Columbus, Ohio. (in process)
1988
“The Human Argument in Steel & Crystal with Sundial,” University City Science Center, Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, Penn. (finalist)
Tree Mountain – A Living Time Capsule – 11,000 Trees – 11,000 People – 400 Years, Finland, planted in 1996. A massive earthwork and artificial mountain, this land reclamation project involved planting 11,000 trees in an intricate mathematical pattern derived from a combination of the golden section and a sunflower/pineapple pattern designed by the artist. More on this project here. More on Agnes Denes at the greenmuseum.org site and widely on the www.
